Pamela Garnett and son, Mark Vernon acquitted of witness-tampering

Forty-two year old Pamela Garnett and her son, Mark Vernon, were acquitted of charges of Attempting to Suppress Evidence and Using Violence against a Witness when they appeared in magistrates’ court today.  In the case, the high profile duo was accused of threatening the life of Marie Alvarez, the aunt of nineteen year old Raheem Requena, who was murdered on December nineteenth, 2012.  Alvarez, in a statement to police, identified Jermaine Garnett and Cassian Bennett, Pamela’s husband and son, as the gunmen who executed her nephew while riding his bicycle on Kut Avenue.  According to Alvarez, the wife and stepson initially made an offer of five thousand dollars for her to recant the testimony.  When she refused, Alvarez reportedly began receiving death threats and, in a message later conveyed, a hit worth twenty thousand dollars was said to have been placed on her.  Pamela and her son were subsequently arrested and charged with the abovementioned offences and were denied bail.  Following the arraignment Alvarez, during a meeting with Director of Public Prosecutions Cheryl-Lynn Vidal, indicated her intention to testify.  On January seventh, Garnett and Vernon were released on bail and shortly thereafter Alvarez apparently skipped off.  When authorities caught up with her at the United States border Alvarez told the officers that her life was in danger had she remained in Belize.  Under the circumstances, the prosecution began the trial on January eleventh amid doubts that Alvarez would not be returning to testify.  An adjournment on the matter was granted in the first instance; however, a successive request was rejected.  Since Alvarez’s statement was not recorded in the presence of a Justice of the Peace or a magistrate, the testimony could not be entered as evidence and the charges against Garnett and Vernon were later dismissed.  The D.P.P. in a statement today expressed her dismay with the unfortunate turn of events since her office was of the impression that Alvarez was set to take the stand.  Coercion of witnesses, she says, is the main reason why the public perceives the justice system to be failing.  Recommendations to amend the Evidence Act to allow for witnesses to testify in criminal matters via video link are yet to be implemented.